St George's quizzes local Imam on violent verses in the Qur'an

Submitted by alison-bogle on Wed, 17/05/2017 - 16:06

‘So-called Islamic State’s use of the Qur’an is wrong’ – a senior imam in Leeds has told members of St George’s.

A group of people interested in the Middle East (from St George’s, St John’s, Moor Allerton and the Leeds Jewish community), met Qari Asim, senior imam of the Makkah Mosque, Headingley, to talk about IS’s use of Qur'anic verses to justify its killing of Christians.

David Kibble (left with Qari Asim), who leads St George’s Dialogue and Reconciliation Network, says, ‘Qari campaigns tirelessly against the philosophy of so-called Islamic State. Discussing some of the ‘violent’ verses in the Qur’an, he said that they were revelations from God in particular circumstances at a particular time. He said Muslim scholars believe that where there are time-conditioned verses then these should not be regarded as applicable universally. The violent verses were revealed when the early Muslim community was involved in conflicts with nearby tribes who were trying to destroy them; there is no reason to assume that the verses apply to the present.

“The IS killing of Christians continues - over Easter in Egypt, 30 members of St George’s namesake in Tanta were killed in an IS attack. But it’s also noted that without the work of a member of the local police force – the first Muslim policewoman to have been killed on duty in the country - there would have been more casualties".

Members of the Dialogue and Reconciliation Network maintain links with members of the local Jewish and Muslim communities. David adds, “Two Network members are currently working with Jewish, Christian and Muslim university students to see how young people can make the public more aware of the good news that comes from faith communities rather than the bad news that is so often publicised in the media”.